The Fall of the Angels

Cleveland Museum of Art

The Fall of the Angels

Auguste RodinLinkedCulture matchlcp-330bd0e8de10

Date
c. 1890–1900
Medium
marble
Culture
France, late 19th-early 20th Century
Department
Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
136514

The entwined couple in this sculpture recalls the figures on Rodin’s monumental doorway The Gates of Hell . Struck by Dante Alighieri’s descriptions of the damned suffering in hell because of their sins of the flesh, Rodin populated his portal with embracing lovers symbolic of carnal desire and sensual pleasure. Here, a winged figure alludes to the biblical account of the angels who were cast out of Heaven after siding with Satan (Revelation 12:4). Rodin preferred marble for erotic subjects. The juxtaposition between the smooth, sensual surfaces of the figures and the rough-hewn areas below gives the impression that the couple is blossoming into life from hard, lifeless stone.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Carrie Moss Halle in memory of Salmon Portland Halle
Provenance
Mrs. Salmon P. Halle, Shaker Heights, Ohio.

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